Ileana LaGrutta
September 22, 2014
The Game of Schools
EDC 102H
I could go on and on about the game of school and how it is ever-present today. It is hard to walk through high school and not see the game being played. Homework in high school merely consisted of "reading" a textbook chapter and answering questions 1-5 that follow. The reason that I put "reading" in quotations is because few students actually read the chapter. Instead, they will glance at the questions and then go find the answer, which is usually presented exactly how the question is worded, within the text. The worst part is, questions one through five would usually be on vocabulary words or little facts that do not help students fully comprehend the material while question six was usually the "critical thinking" question that was rarely ever assigned. Why wasn't it assigned? Well that is a question that helps coney that teachers play the game, as well.
A lot of teachers now-a-days simply teach to get by just like the students learn the bare minimum in order to get by. These teachers do not assign the "critical thinking" questions because it will take too long to grade. Along with that, they are also planning their lessons (which usually consist of Power Point Presentations that the teacher will directly read off of the screen as students vigorously copy the notes before the slide is changed), and trying to get their grades in on time. Oh and when the students get their report card, it is usually filled with the same generic comments year after year like, "A pleasure to have in class," or "Distracting to others around them." There are hundreds of different fixed phrases in the databases for report cards, but instead of giving substantial feedback, teachers will usually click the easiest one in order to get that report card finished and move on to the next report card.
The game of school is clearly played all throughout high school. However, it is important to explore whether it is played in college as well. Furthermore, after about a month of classes, I personally believe that it is still played to an extent. In certain classes, students are assigned an extremely long textbook chapter to read. While reading the chapter they may take notes, however, it is definitely questionable about how in depth those notes are. Are these students simply reading the chapter and jotting down important bolded or italicized items, or are they reading the chapter and making connections on a deeper level? That being said, it is the courses like this education course that incorporates a lot of writing and contemplation that help break students away from the game of school.
The game of school is extremely prevalent in high schools all around the country. Whether it is students quickly skimming a chapter for information to answer an extremely shallow and factual question, or teachers simply breezing through lessons with no class engagement whatsoever, it absolutely needs to change. College, although it still occurs, is the place where it truly can change. College is the place where the rest of our lives begin; a life where just getting by should not be the main concern.
September 22, 2014
The Game of Schools
EDC 102H
I could go on and on about the game of school and how it is ever-present today. It is hard to walk through high school and not see the game being played. Homework in high school merely consisted of "reading" a textbook chapter and answering questions 1-5 that follow. The reason that I put "reading" in quotations is because few students actually read the chapter. Instead, they will glance at the questions and then go find the answer, which is usually presented exactly how the question is worded, within the text. The worst part is, questions one through five would usually be on vocabulary words or little facts that do not help students fully comprehend the material while question six was usually the "critical thinking" question that was rarely ever assigned. Why wasn't it assigned? Well that is a question that helps coney that teachers play the game, as well.
A lot of teachers now-a-days simply teach to get by just like the students learn the bare minimum in order to get by. These teachers do not assign the "critical thinking" questions because it will take too long to grade. Along with that, they are also planning their lessons (which usually consist of Power Point Presentations that the teacher will directly read off of the screen as students vigorously copy the notes before the slide is changed), and trying to get their grades in on time. Oh and when the students get their report card, it is usually filled with the same generic comments year after year like, "A pleasure to have in class," or "Distracting to others around them." There are hundreds of different fixed phrases in the databases for report cards, but instead of giving substantial feedback, teachers will usually click the easiest one in order to get that report card finished and move on to the next report card.
The game of school is clearly played all throughout high school. However, it is important to explore whether it is played in college as well. Furthermore, after about a month of classes, I personally believe that it is still played to an extent. In certain classes, students are assigned an extremely long textbook chapter to read. While reading the chapter they may take notes, however, it is definitely questionable about how in depth those notes are. Are these students simply reading the chapter and jotting down important bolded or italicized items, or are they reading the chapter and making connections on a deeper level? That being said, it is the courses like this education course that incorporates a lot of writing and contemplation that help break students away from the game of school.
The game of school is extremely prevalent in high schools all around the country. Whether it is students quickly skimming a chapter for information to answer an extremely shallow and factual question, or teachers simply breezing through lessons with no class engagement whatsoever, it absolutely needs to change. College, although it still occurs, is the place where it truly can change. College is the place where the rest of our lives begin; a life where just getting by should not be the main concern.